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Education Resource

CONTENTS

ACMI ..................................................................................................................................... 3

SCREEN IT 2016 3

The Resource ........................................................................................................................ 3

SCREEN IT COMPETITION CATEGORIES .......................................................................... 4

Screen It in the Classroom ..................................................................................................... 5

Screen It – In your school ...................................................................................................... 5

THEME: MYSTERY 7

To get started ........................................................................................................................ 7

The mystical allure of the mystery .......................................................................................... 8

Storytelling ............................................................................................................................. 9

Unsolved mysteries and urban legends ............................................................................... 10

Puzzles, games and optical illusions .................................................................................... 11

The Human Brain and the Human Body............................................................................... 12

Mysterious Packages ........................................................................................................... 13

Mysterious spaces ............................................................................................................... 15

Sci-Fi mysteries ................................................................................................................... 16

Scientific Mysteries .............................................................................................................. 17

Forensic investigation and adventure. .................................................................................. 18

The Mysteries of the Universe ............................................................................................. 19

Secrets ................................................................................................................................ 20

Secrets and Technology ...................................................................................................... 21

Life’s mysteries: Who am I? What does it all mean? What makes me me? .......................... 22

Start Creating ...................................................................................................................... 23

FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016 of 23

ACMI

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) celebrates, explores and promotes

the moving image in all its forms. Located in Melbourne’s Federation Square, ACMI

engages with a diverse audience through world-renowned exhibitions, a diverse

cinema program, state-of-the-art production spaces and the Australian Mediatheque.

ACMI Education plays an integral role in fostering a passion for and an understanding

of the moving image, supporting both teachers and students to build creative skills and

knowledge.

SCREEN IT 2016

Screen It is a national moving image competition for primary and secondary school

students. Each year Australian students are invited to meet the challenge of making

their own videogames, animations or live action films in response to a theme. The

theme for Screen it 2016 is Mystery. This theme is designed to stimulate ideas and fuel

student creativity.

A key element of ACMI Education’s commitment to screen literacy and the moving

image, Screen It promotes artistry and storytelling as part of a curriculum-based

learning program. Encouraged to use a variety of creative techniques and approaches

to express themselves using the moving image, participants also develop skills related

to problem solving, planning and collaboration.

Winners receive great prizes as well as having the honour of seeing their films

screened in a range of locations online and onsite at ACMI. All participants receive a

certificate of participation and feedback (if requested).

The Resource

Screen It has targeted educational outcomes, and is linked to the Australian

Curriculum.

The introductory section of the resource offers teachers stimulus for introducing the

theme of Mystery to students, and you are advised to choose the ideas and activities

that best suit your students’ interests, year level and, of course, the curriculum.


The subsequent sections offer a framework for working with students in their chosen

moving image form and supporting them as they learn about the production process.

To complement the resource, the ACMI Education team hosts a comprehensive

videoconference program designed to give practical advice and creative inspiration.

https://www.acmi.net.au/education/student-programs/screen-it/

SCREEN IT COMPETITION CATEGORIES

This year Screen It introduces three age categories where the majority of students

producing the work are in:

‒ FOUNDATION TO YEAR 4

‒ YEAR 5 TO YEAR 8

‒ YEAR 9 TO YEAR 12

Three moving image categories:

‒ ANIMATION: create an animation between 30 and 180 seconds.

‒ LIVE ACTION: create a live action film no longer than three minutes for

Foundation to Year 8 students and up to 5 minutes for year 9 to 12 students.

‒ VIDEOGAME: create a Videogame playable on a Microsoft Windows, Apple

Mac computer or iPad.

Awards go to:

‒ Best Animated Film

‒ Best Live Action Film

‒ Best Videogame

‒ Best Overall School Entry

‒ Special Mentions


Screen It in the Classroom

Creating simple animations, live action productions and videogames can be fun,

engaging, and highly educational learning projects to undertake with students. Such

projects allow students to develop many and varied skills by involving students in:

• developing an original idea and researching information

• writing a storyline and a script

• creating a basic storyboard

• planning a production or game structure

• designing and creating animation characters and sets, or game characters

and moulds

• casting actors, selecting or creating locations and dressing sets or moulds

• learning practical production skills including camera, sound recording, acting

and directing

• developing team work, time management and planning skills

• learning post-production skills including editing, sound effects, music, titles

and credits

• testing compiled games and analysing the responses of different people

• programming or coding concepts

• interaction and game design

Screen It – In your school

A Screen It entry can also be embraced as a cross departmental project engaging a

wider range of students. Your school may have a student or group of students who are

seeking an extension activity or who are naturally motivated to oversee the production

of the project in collaboration with a guiding teacher. These students could occupy the

roles of producer and director and draw on the expertise and skills of the school

community.


• English/Literature teachers and students could research the idea and

develop and write the script.

• Art/Studio Art/Design teachers and students can create a ‘look book’ for the

film, source and design props and costumes.

• Drama teachers and students could cast the film and rehearse the scenes

with actors.

• Media/IT/Art teachers and students might take on the role of designing

storyboards, being responsible for the shooting of the film and recording of

the sound, as well as editing the project.


THEME: MYSTERY

“The most beautiful experience

we can have is the mysterious. It

is the fundamental emotion that

stands at the cradle of true art

and true science.”

Albert Einstein

The Screen It theme is designed to motivate your students and this year’s theme is

particularly tantalizing.

You and your students can interpret this theme in any way you like!

Think of all the things that have ever mystified you, questions without answers,

puzzling stories with unexpected endings and riddles that leave you scratching your

head.

Maybe your students will be inspired by a road they have never travelled down, the

house with the closed blinds, hidden thoughts and feelings, the mysteries of the

universe, the world under a microscope, the curious feeling if déjà vu, an unidentified

sound or a hidden treasure.

To get started

Use prompts to generate a variety of ideas and possible approaches.

• What words spring to mind when considering the word mystery?

• Give each student a bunch of sticky notes and ask them to write a different

word or idea on each page. Students can stick their responses up on the

wall. Group similar responses and discuss.

• What are some of the feelings that unexplained or puzzling events, objects,

answers or sounds evoke/create.


• Download the Screen It 2016 poster. What mysteries does it portray?

The mystical allure of the mystery

• Why are people so fascinated with the unknown?

• Why is it so much fun to solve riddles and puzzles?

• What are some unsolved mysteries that have captured your students’

imaginations?

• Share and compare responses.

Everyday life is full of unsolved mysteries and riddles:

- Where is that other sock?

- What happened to my keys?

- Where did the milk go?

- Why don’t spiders stick to their webs?

- How do ants know where the honey is kept?

• Ask students to add to this list and, then, work in groups to come up with (a)

scientific (b) silly and (c) magical explanations for each of these mysteries


Storytelling

"Nobody reads a mystery to get

to the middle. They read it to get

to the end. If it's a letdown, they

won't buy anymore. The first page

sells that book. The last page

sells your next book."

Mickey Spillane

Most stories are driven by a mystery to be solved or a question to be answered. We

keep reading a book, viewing a film or playing a game because we want to find out

what happens in the end. Some stories are particularly puzzling and mysterious.

• In groups, students share stories that have kept them guessing. They need

to be careful not to spoil the ending for others, or perhaps other students

might like to unravel or solve the mystery. Do they know of

stories/films/games that do not offer viewers/players a solution to the

mystery?

• Ask students to work in groups to write the first paragraph of a mysterious or

puzzling story and then work together as a class to come up with a

satisfying solution.

• Using the same opening paragraphs, try working on an ending that leaves

the viewers or players in suspense, puzzling over what might have

happened. (Picnic at Hanging Rock is a famous example of this kind of

storytelling strategy.)

• Screen or display images that evoke a sense of mystery: a closed door, a

shadowy landscape, the night sky, Stonehenge, the human brain. Working

in pairs, students can focus on the image that particularly captures their


imaginations. Why is this image so mysterious? In a few sentences sketch

out the story evoked or suggested by the image.

Many people love the thrill and adventure of the mystery genre: clues, suspects,

detectives and motives. Find out what the students know about the Mystery genre and

discuss:

• What are the codes and conventions of the Mystery genre?

• What videogames, films, TV shows, books or animations fit into this genre?

• Share some favourite examples and try to identify the elements that make

them successful.

Unsolved mysteries and urban legends

How many famous unsolved mysteries and urban legends do students know about? In

groups, students could present one to the class using the PechaKucha format

(http://www.pechakucha.org) where presenters are limited to 20 slides and are only

allowed to speak for 20 seconds each slide.

Examples include:

• The Yeti or the Abominable Snowman

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2vGYLC87gU)

• The Loch Ness Monster (http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/loch-

ness-sci)

• Crop circles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYkyFgt1hZk)

http://www.pechakucha.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2vGYLC87gU

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/loch-ness-sci

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/loch-ness-sci

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYkyFgt1hZk


Puzzles, games and optical illusions

There is still some debate as to how optical illusions like flipbooks, thaumatropes,

zoetropes and mutoscopes trick our eyes and brains into morphing a series of still

picture into a moving image. Persistence of vision was the theory of choice

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YismwdgMIRc) until recently. Now Beta Movement

and the Phi Phemonena are part of the explanation – but it is still a bit of a mystery!

Get inspired!

• Check out the optical illusions at ACMI’s Screen Worlds exhibition:

http://www.acmi.net.au/acmi-channel/2014/elaborate-illusions/.

• Find out more about animation toys such as flipbooks and thaumatropes.

(For example, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e1GKG-Gmjk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0z8QUKgPRA )

• Create your own optical illusions.

(For example, www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/whirling-watcher)

• Play games and watch movies and animations based on puzzles or games.

(For example, www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2209434.htm

http://generator.acmi.net.au/gallery/media/wcft-world-connect-four-

tournament)

• Solve some of these brainteasers:

www.oneminutemysteries.com/samplechapters.pdf

• Visit ABC Splash for puzzles related to Language and Maths. For example:

http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/digibook/965656/sound-and-letter-mysteries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YismwdgMIRc

http://www.acmi.net.au/acmi-channel/2014/elaborate-illusions/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e1GKG-Gmjk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0z8QUKgPRA

http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/whirling-watcher

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2209434.htm

http://generator.acmi.net.au/gallery/media/wcft-world-connect-four-tournament

http://generator.acmi.net.au/gallery/media/wcft-world-connect-four-tournament

http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/digibook/965656/sound-and-letter-mysteries


The Human Brain and the Human Body

“Everything we do, every thought

we've ever had, is produced by

the human brain. But exactly how

it operates remains one of the

biggest unsolved mysteries, and

it seems the more we probe its

secrets, the more surprises we

find.”

Neil de Grasse Tyson

Many aspects of the human brain and body are a mystery, including how we perceive

moving images in films and animations.

• As a class, find out more about the mysteries of the body. Some

suggestions:

- What do we need to eat to stay healthy?

- Why do we need sleep?

- How do we remember things?

• Encourage students to find out about some of the strange medical beliefs

and practices of the past and share them with the class.

• The mysteries of the human body and mind have inspired many stories,

films and videogames including Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein and

even SpongeBob SquarePants

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAJtsIiQ6U ). Ask students to

contribute more examples from their own reading, viewing and playing of

videogames.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/neildegras531089.html?src=t_mysteries








http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/neil_degrasse_tyson.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAJtsIiQ6U


Mysterious Packages

Encourage students to be active thinkers:

• Bring in a box wrapped in layers of paper. Students can guess what is

inside.

• Hide something and leave a trail of clues for students to decipher.

• Make the next homework task a choice from a lucky dip. Customise the

tasks to add a bit of tension – some students receive a “get-out of

homework free” card, while others may be required to present it in an

unexpected format (in song, in a strange font).

In pairs and then as a class, share and discuss the feelings and responses generated

by the chosen activity.

Continue the discussion by considering the following topics:

• why wrap gifts,

• the most unexpected gift you have ever received,

• the appeal of the lucky dip, the jack-in-the-box or surprise toys hidden inside

chocolate eggs or plastic capsules,

• the excitement of receiving an unexpected parcel in the post.

• the popularity of unboxing and unwrapping videos

(for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcsagUBRBK4;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeaj0y-hje4).

• why TV shows hide things behind mystery doors, introduce surprise guests

or challenge participants to cook using a mystery box of ingredients.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcsagUBRBK4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeaj0y-hje4


As a class, create a chain story that begins with an unopened package.

• Each member of the class adds a sentence to the story and each new

addition begins with the words “The Package”.

• The challenge is to keep the story going without revealing what is in the

package until you get to the last person who can decide the solution to the

mystery.

When students begin planning their productions, they can build a connection with their

audience, by drawing on the feelings and responses evoked by mysteries and the

unknown.


Mysterious spaces

“It was the sweetest, most

mysterious-looking place any one

could imagine. The high walls

which shut it in were covered

with the leafless stems of

climbing roses which were so

thick that they were matted

together."

Frances Hodgson Burnett,

The Secret Garden

Many places have a particular atmosphere. What makes a place creepy, uncanny,

alien, intriguing, lost or mystifying?

• Ask students to think about a space they know that has a special feeling or

ambience.

• Can they identify the mood of the place and the feeling it evokes?

• What features evoke this mood?

The history of a place changes the way we think about it. Once you know the secret

stories, you can never see it in quite the same way.

• You might like to show students some images or videos of particular places

and ask them to describe the feeling that these places evoke. You could

then provide them with some context about the history of these places and

ask them to consider how this changes their initial impressions.

• As a class, you could explore the Memory Places worksheet and consider

the connection between present-day spaces and the past:

https://www.acmi.net.au/education/learning-resources/memory-places/

• Focus on the way that camera, lighting and sound can communicate the

secret life of a place. When you make your own works consider how you

can create mood using these production techniques?

Try experimenting with filters and effects to create the impression of footage from the

past.

https://www.acmi.net.au/education/learning-resources/memory-places/


Sci-Fi mysteries

“The Truth is out There”

The X-Files

The universe is so huge and contains many secrets. One of the great mysteries is

whether there is life somewhere other than earth. Many filmmakers and videogame

developers have tried to imagine what extraterrestrial life might look like.

• Working together as a class, list as many of these imaginings as you can.

You might like to identify your favourites and discuss what makes them

successful.

• Ask students to imagine and share with the group their own version of

extraterrestrial life.

UFOs feature in many sci fi mysteries.

• Students can research some UFO stories as a starting point for a discussion

about why people find them so fascinating and are so keen to believe in

their existence.

• Older students could find out more about the conspiracy theories that have

grown up around stories about a flying saucer in Roswell New Mexico and

Area 51.

• In Australia, the disappearance of lone pilot Frederick Valentich after he

reported seeing UFOs is considered by many people to be an unsolved

mystery. You can find out more about it here:

www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3411597.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3411597.htm


• If students want to explore the way that people respond to mysteries, they

could compare sceptical accounts of this incident with versions of the story

told by believers.

• Younger students will enjoy the Pixar short animation Lifted and its depiction

of what might happen if a UFO visited during the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1_HrhwaXU

- After viewing, break down features such as character, story and

world to assist students in planning and creating their own work.

- Use the worksheets developed for the Dreamworks Animation

Exhibition to help your students to organsie their thoughts and to

keep a record of their observations.

https://www.acmi.net.au/media/444349/dreamworks-worksheets.pdf

Scientific Mysteries

Sci fi films and videogames are inspired by the mysteries of science, using them as a

launching point for stories driven by imagination and invention. Here are some scientific

mysteries designed to fire students‘ imaginations.

• Dark energy - We can't see it and we can't feel it, nobody knows what it is,

but we know it exists.

• Dark matter – It may or may not exist but scientists spend a lot of time.

• Time - Why does it only move forward?

• The lifetime of the universe

• How did life originate?

• How many dimensions of space are there?

If you want to inspire students with some mysteries that do have a solution, visit the US

Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/archive.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1_HrhwaXU

https://www.acmi.net.au/media/444349/dreamworks-worksheets.pdf

https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/archive.html


Forensic investigation and adventure.

Challenge students to plan a mystery-filled narrative based on forensic investigation:

Can the audience use their savvy science knowledge to solve the mystery you present

them with? Here are some sleuthing film, animation and videogame ideas from Fizzics

Education to get you started:

• Shipwrecks & salvage… which vessel have the marine archaeologists

discovered?

• Who stole the parrot? Our prize-winning parrot has gone missing…trace the

clues to find the culprit!

• Forensic frenzy... can your scientific team put the evidence together in time?

• Cryptic codes; someone has hacked your computer but left code traces as

to who they are…

• Which bug is this? The museums need your help to put order to their

collection chaos.

• Digital dilemma; We’ve lost our top secret satellite… can the team work out

how to find it?

• Wow, you’ve just discovered that there is a hidden message in your

favourite song! Now, how to work it out….


The Mysteries of the Universe

“It seemed to be a necessary

ritual that he should prepare

himself for sleep by meditating

under the solemnity of the night

sky… a mysterious transaction

between the infinity of the soul

and the infinity of the universe.”

Victor Hugo

We are part of a universe that is so immense, it is impossible for the human mind to

grasp its size. The invention of ever-more powerful telescopes has led to many

amazing discoveries and theories but we can only ever know only the tiniest fraction

about what exists beyond our solar system.

• List some of the mysteries of the universe.

• Which of these mysteries might make the most interesting subject for a

short film or video?

• Set a timer and give students a minute to think about a short film or game

inspired by a mystery of the universe. Break them up into pairs and allow

two minutes to compare ideas and come up with a single preferred concept.

Join pairs of students into a group of four. Give them four minutes to pitch

their ideas to each other and then work together to create a single concept.

Pitch these ideas to the class and share constructive feedback.


Secrets

“The greatest secrets are always

hidden in the most unlikely

places. Those who don't believe

in magic will never find it.”

Roald Dahl

Everyone loves a secret, but they can be difficult to keep.

Ask students to reflect on the following questions:

• Why are secrets so tantalising? Why does it feel so bad to be the only one

not in on a secret?

• Why are they so hard to keep?

• What kinds of things do people keep secret?

• Ask students to use one of the following prompts as the stimulus for a film,

animation or game. They have only one side of an A4 page to communciate

as many ideas about the story they want to tell and/or the world in which

events will unfold.

- the secret of success

- secret language/codes/messages

- whispered secrets

- magical worlds

- secret garden

- keeping/telling/revealing secrets

- buried treasure

- behind the closed door

• Plan a hidden secrets tour of your school, suburb, town or some other

special place. (Some examples are

http://hiddensecretstours.com/tour/lanes-arcades/;

http://hiddensecretstours.com/tour/lanes-arcades/


http://secrettours.com.au/; http://www.silverkris.com/stories/8-secret-spots-

singapore-will-surprise-you )

• Show students photographs of ordinary-seeming people and ask them to

imagine that each one of them has a (different) secret. Describe these

secret lives.

• Younger students might like to imagine the secret life of their pets or their

toys.

Secrets and Technology

In 1872, Eadweard Muybridge solved the mystery of whether all four hooves of a horse

leave the ground when it gallops:

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/windows/southeast/eadweard_muybri

dge.html

In The Private Life of Plants, time lapse photography revealed secrets about nature

and the way that plants grow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puDkLFcCZyI

Microscopes, telescopes, x-ray machines reveal information that would otherwise have

remained a mystery.

Robots can reveal secrets hidden at the bottom of the sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dTq20x1d4M

• Ask students to choose a technology that has helped solve a scientific

mystery and using one image and three sentences describe to the rest of

the class what it is and what it has revealed.

• What are some of secrets you would like to unearth or mysteries you would

like to solve. Design a technology that will help you do this – the crazier and

more unlikely the better!

http://secrettours.com.au/

http://www.silverkris.com/stories/8-secret-spots-singapore-will-surprise-you

http://www.silverkris.com/stories/8-secret-spots-singapore-will-surprise-you

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/windows/southeast/eadweard_muybridge.html

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/windows/southeast/eadweard_muybridge.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puDkLFcCZyI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dTq20x1d4M


Life’s mysteries: Who am I? What does it all mean? What

makes me me?

Ask students to reflect on the following questions, as they consider who they are and

their place in the world.

• What makes us who we are?

• Who defines our identity? Us or others?

• When do we feel most ourselves?

• What does it mean to be true to oneself?

• How many different people are you? Make a list.

Ask students to write a quick response:

• What makes you special?

• When have you surprised yourself?

• What does it mean to act out of character?

Films, books, games, music and art can help us learn more about ourselves.

• In pairs, students share and describe creative works and experiences that

have taught them more about their secret selves.

Now it‘s time for the students to ask the questions.

• Challenge them to come up with a list of Big Questions about life’s

mysteries.


• Keeping each students‘ contribution anonymous, compile these questions

into a single list. How much overlap is there? Are there some mysteries that

every human being thinks about and puzzles over?

Start Creating

Once students have reflected on the range of possible approaches presented by the

theme and have begun developing their ideas, you can guide them in creating the best

Screen It entry possible. Check out the Screen It production resouces on how to make

live action , animation and videogames.

And remember, you and your students can take part in ACMI’s Screen It

videoconference program where you can get tips from ACMI’s expert education team

and ask any of your burning questions.

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